Chairman Meehan on the hearing:
"At a February 9 hearing, Secretary Napolitano told the Homeland Security Committee that the terrorist threat to the U.S. is at its most 'heightened state' since 9/11. Michael Leiter, Director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) added: 'I actually consider al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) to probably be the most significant risk to the U.S. homeland.' Building on these statements Subcommittee Members will receive expert witness testimony on AQAP, radical Islamist cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, and AQAP's use of the Internet as a recruitment tool. Following the hearing, Subcommittee Members will receive a classified threat briefing on AQAP from the FBI, NCTC, and DHS to gain a deeper understanding of how law enforcement and the intelligence community are combating the threat."

Chairman King on the hearing:
“This hearing will provide the Committee with an opportunity to question Secretary Napolitano about President Obama’s FY 2012 budget proposal. In addition, there will definitely be a number of questions directed to the Secretary about the arrest of Khalid Aldawsari, the Saudi national arrested in Texas on terror charges. I want to know what she thinks can be done to improve our security going forward. In this case, you have a student from Saudi Arabia, home of 15 of the 19 9/11 hijackers, on a student visa studying chemistry, with an interest in explosives. I believe we need to better screen student visa applicants, certainly those from countries like Saudi Arabia. Then once they are here studying, we need to have a way to more closely monitor them.”

Long-term Outlook

On March 10, the Committee will convene the first in a series of hearings examining radicalization in the American Muslim community and the community’s response to it. Additional information about this hearing will be distributed in the coming days.